Magoichi Saika

Magoichi Saika (1562-1615), born as Shigehide Suzuki, was the leader of the Saika Ikki Renegades of Kii Province, who later served the Date, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa.

Biography
The second son of Sadayu Suzuki, Magoichi Saika was the leader of the Saika Renegades of Kii Province. He led 3,000 riflemen in the Hongan-ji Riots of 1578, allying with the Miyoshi and Ikko-Ikki clans in the war against the Oda clan of Nobunaga Oda. In 1579 he was defeated in the Second Battle of Kizugawa and his renegades were massacred, and he joined the Date clan afterwards, becoming friends with daimyo Masamune Date.

In 1585 Magoichi, Masamune Date, Keiji Maeda, Kanetsugu Naoe, and Yukimura Sanada became known as the "Invincible Five" for their unlikely victory over a larger Tokugawa army in the Battle of Ueda Castle, a failed attempt by Ieyasu Tokugawa to take over Shinano Province from the Sanada clan. After this adventure he proceeded to serve under the Toyotomi alongside his allies, but in 1591 instigated the Kasai-Osaki Uprising in Oshu in an attempt to give the Date peasants their possessions back. The rebellion was crushed and the Date were punished, but Magoichi and Masamune backed Mitsunari Ishida, a loyal Toyotomi general, in the succession war after the death of Hideyoshi Hashiba. The two defended Mitsunari from Masanori Fukushima and the Anti-Ishida Coalition in the Siege of Kyoto, which they saw as also paying off their debt to Kanetsugu Naoe, who had helped them at Odawara Castle. In 1600, Magoichi and Masamune sided with the Tokugawa Eastern Army against the Toyotomi Western Army in the Sekigahara Campaign at the Battle of Hasedo, a victory for the Eastern Army. After the battle the two became vassals of the Tokugawa Shogunate and fought in the Osaka Campaign.

Death
Magoichi Saika was dispatched to whittle down Lord Teruzumi Akashi's force in the Secondary Ward with his riflemen and Nagamasa Kuroda by Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, but his former friend Yukimura Sanada engaged him in battle as an ally of Teruzumi. Yukimura cut down Magoichi with his spear, and Magoichi told him to stay alive as his last words.